Anti Air event in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bannu area, Pakistan on Tue 16th July 2024

At least eight persons sustained injuries as Security Forces (SFs) foiled suicide attack on the Bannu cantonment in Bannu District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on July 15, Dawn reported quoting Radio Pakistan report. As per the report, terrorists attempted to enter the high-security cantonment area by detonating an explosive-laden vehicle on the road linking the outer wall of the cantonment with the supply depot. “Security forces foiled the terrorists’ attempt by taking timely action […] and have started a clearance operation,” the report said. While the Government has yet to release the details of casualties, a spokesperson for the Government hospitals in Bannu, Muhammad Numan, said that eight people were left wounded in the attack. However, social media sources reported that an Army helicopter was shot down by terrorists while 17 soldiers including two Majors and one Captain were killed and another 54 persons sustained injuries in the attack. Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad, a faction of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) took responsibility for the attack.